There is an interesting passage that one can find in the book of Genesis chapter 1 verse 27. In the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible it reads as follows, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” This is one of the most theologically and anthropologically deep passages in all of Scripture, it is also one of the most debated. What does it mean for man (in this context it means mankind) to be created in the image of God? Does it mean that God has a physical body with two legs and two arms, a head and a torso (many would say yes; what else could the word image mean)? Does it mean that God has a soul just like ours or that God knows the difference between good and evil like we do? Maybe it means that God has freewill and is not governed merely by instinct like animals and plants (yes, I believe plants have instincts).
Regardless of the actual meaning of this passage I think we would all be much better off if we edited it out of our Bibles and our lives. After all, if we are all created in the image of God and called to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (MT 5:48 may also need some editing) wouldn’t that just turn us all into a bunch of mindless I love Jesus zombies without any sort of personality or will of our own? Does this idea of Catholicism, nay Christianity in general not rob us of our freedom? As free men and women are we not obliged to demand a rewriting of scripture and say that we the people of the United States in order to demand a more perfect union with god and each other, establish relativism, and wipe away individual consciences, do hereby declare that god is actually created in the image of man?
If we are successful then there can be as many images of man as there are people on the face of the planet. Such gods would never be displeased with us because they are our reflection and we are the ultimate reality. We would never have to worry about going against our consciences again because we would be able to rewrite God to always be on our side. We would eliminate all prejudices against sinful behavior because with god created in our image we know that we will be right, no matter what we choose. Those with the political clout can make new laws determining morality for everyone and be perfectly justified in doing so. After all, god is created in their image just as much as he is created in yours. The next leaders can do the same. Right and wrong, good and evil lose all meaning and become merely synonyms for legal and illegal. Anyone who said anything different would be locked up or sent to a re-education camp. Religions who preached against being forced to violate their consciences and participate in actions that for over 2000 years they have held to be intrinsically evil would be ignored. If they persisted they would be fined huge sums of money and their leaders would be imprisoned. Sound Orwellian? Watch your back; the government is already knocking at our doors.
I recently read a poem titled The Hangman which I personally think sums up the whole situation with the new HHS mandate requiring the Catholic Church to provide contraception (including abortifacients), sterilizations, etc. The Catholic Church is the biggest dog on the block so to speak and if the government is able to push around and force us to violate our consciences there will be no one else to stop them. If you haven't contacted your representatives yet you should so soon.
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